Brims Bounds into NSSS Series Lead
10/01/09…NASR/SSA Media Release
At Hamilton’s Western Speedway last night (Friday, January 9), New South Wales champion Wayne Brims led throughout the 35-lap feature event to win round five of the 2008/2009 Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series, which doubled as the opening round of the APCO Warrnambool Tri-City Challenge. Brims started his Brims Bulk Transport Pontiac on the outside front row and, having outpaced polesitter Matt Pascoe through the opening lap, maintained his advantage through to the chequer to emerge as the new series point leader at the halfway stage of the tournament.
With a series of restarts ensuring that lapped traffic never became a factor, Brims was never seriously threatened throughout the event, despite the best efforts of Pascoe and Tasmania’s David Nicholls, who advanced into second spot midway through the event. In only his second meeting in a brand new car, Nicholls was impressive in his bid to upstage the series regulars and has confirmed himself to be a strong contender for the Tri-City crown. Pascoe finished in third spot ahead of Michael Nicola, who now sits third overall in the championship standings, with another Tasmanian in Sam Hughes enjoying a strong series debut to finish fifth.
Previous round winner Dave Gartner was next best ahead of Darren Kane, with Jarrod Harper, Tony Barklimore and Shane Best rounding out the top ten. Two-time series champion Wayne Randall annexed 11th overall, while Dan Miller bounced back from his recent misfortunes to finish 12th. Trevor Ware, Ron Bergmeier, defending champ Michael Doblo, Michael Hickey and Bill Miller completed the finishers.
Pascoe was the standout during the preliminaries, snaring two heat wins in impressive fashion, using all parts of the racetrack in advancing to the front. Brims also collected a heat win, as did Hughes, Gartner, Harper, Nicola, Shane Best and Lachlan Onley, who was an early casualty in the feature. Others who failed to go the distance in the feature included Lucas Roberts, Bruno Jetson and Jack Childs.
The teams head to Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway tonight (Saturday, January 10) for round two of the Tri-City Challenge and then the series will visit Warrnambool’s Premier Speedway for the first time on Sunday night (January 11) for the Tri-City finale.
Heat winners: Matt Pascoe x 2, Wayne Brims, Sam Hughes, Dave Gartner, Jarrod Harper, Michael Nicola, Shane Best, Lachlan Onley
B Main: 1. Dan Miler, 2. Bill Miller, 3. Michael Hickey, 4. Lachlan Onley, 5. Trevor Ware, 6. Ron Bergmeier, 7. Lucas Roberts, 8. Jack Childs, DNF – Steve Vaughan
Feature Race: 1. Wayne Brims, 2. David Nicholls, 3. Matt Pascoe, 4. Michael Nicola, 5. Sam Hughes, 6. Dave Gartner, 7. Darren Kane, 8. Jarrod Harper, 9. Tony Barklimore, 10. Shane Best, 11. Wayne Randall, 12. Dan Miller. 13. Trevor Ware, 14. Ron Bergmeier, 15. Michael Doblo, 16. Michael Hickey, 17. Bll Miller, DNF – Bruno Jetson, Lachlan Onley, Jack Childs, Lucas Roberts
Contingency Winners
Shock Doctor Lucky Sevens
Darren Kane
Oval Express Best Presented Car and Crew
Dave Gartner
Series standings (top ten) after five of ten rounds: Wayne Brims 2278, Darren Kane 2115, Michael Nicola 1976, Shane Best 1960, Matt Pascoe 1949, Michael Doblo 1872, Jarrod Harper 1800, Dave Gartner 1714, Michael Hickey 1269, Bill Miller 1240
Carline Mufflers, Bergmeier Engineering, American Racer Tyres, JD Couriers, Shock Doctor, Oval Express Magazine, Art by Mickey, APCO Warrnambool, Comfort Inn and Suites Robertson Gardens, Rocky Resort Motor Inn, Comfort Inn on Raglan, National Association of Speedway Racing (NASR), Speedway Sedans Australia (ASCF), J & C Carrell Speedway Photography